


Geronimo

by FyireMoon



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Crushes, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-11-02 02:52:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17879714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FyireMoon/pseuds/FyireMoon
Summary: Ben realizes he has a crush and decides, for once, to do things the Gryffindor way.





	Geronimo

**Author's Note:**

> This one's for you Justine

Ben drums his fingers against the envelope in his hand, pacing in front of the toolshed at the Magical Creatures reserve. He wasn’t sure what he hated the most at the moment; the stomach twisting anxiety of who he was waiting for, or the deep uncertainty of being alone in the woods. He takes a deep breath and stops his pacing, his eyes closing and hands tightening around the paper in his hands. **  
**

Part of him hates Kenna for bringing it up but he knows, frustratingly, that she was right. Rowan had brought up dates for the Celestial Ball which led to the inevitable question of dates. He had hoped he might slip under their radar, but Rowan was relentless. He’d said that he wasn’t going to go, especially not if he couldn’t find a date, which is when Kenna delivered a line that nearly killed him.

“Why don’t you ask Barnaby? He doesn’t have a date yet.”

He’d practically shut down on the spot. It wasn’t that he hated the idea, in fact the longer Ben had thought about it the more he’d started to realize that anxiety he felt around the Slytherin might not be entirely due to fear. After all, Barnaby was nice considering the life he’d come from, and he was strong, and he got kind of an adorable smile when he talked about magical creatures…

God, Ben hated it when Kenna was right.

Now here he was, waiting to ask out some dumb Slytherin boy that he couldn’t get out of his head and clinging to a letter in case he couldn’t bring himself to use words. He tapped his foot, trying to fight the urge to continue pacing.

“Ugh.” A voice from behind him sent Ben’s heart plummeting to his stomach, “Why are you here?” Merula glared at him, her eyes rolling when Ben whipped around with a yelp. She stalked forward, face sour like he had interrupted whatever she was doing.

“I- I- Uh..” Ben backpedaled, the note in his hand now completely crumpled from how tight he was gripping it,”I-”

“I- I,” Merula taunted, “really, you can’t even finish a sentence?” Her eyes caught sight of the letter and she smirked, “What’s that you’ve got there?”

He pulled his hand to his chest, “Nothing! It’s nothing!” She lunged towards him and he managed to side step her, desperately keeping his arm away from her. If Merula found out he liked Barnaby she’d ruin his life even more than she already had.

Merula lunges at him once more but a flash of green appears in front of him and shoves her back.

“Leave him alone, Merula.” Barnaby, who had placed himself like a shield between Ben and Merula, crossed his arms over his chest.

Merula growled and stalked past them, attempting to bump into Barnaby only to throw herself more off balance hitting against his shoulder. The two of them watched her stalk off.

With an easy smile Barnaby turns back to Ben, who simultaneously remembers how to breathe and also thinks his legs might have turned to jelly, and rubs the back of his neck, “Sorry about that.”

Ben shakes his head, blond hair tousled by the action, “No! I mean, uh, no, don’t be sorry.” Mentally he kicks himself, but outwardly he continues, “I probably would have ended up with a black eye if you hadn’t shown up, which would have been bad andddd I need to stop talking.” He clicks his mouth shut hard enough that his jaw aches for a moment. Rambling isn’t unusual with him, but rarely like this. It’s usually about his fear, not a nervous, rather obvious monologue about how black eyes aren’t fun. His legs still feel unstable and he can tell with a relentless dread that his face is flushed red.

He’s never been alone around Barnaby before and it was making him short-circuit like the blushing protagonists of the cheap romance novels Penny sneaks back to school. If a warm smile and a pair of sea green eyes made him this much of a mess, he wasn’t allowed to judge her taste in books anymore.

To his credit at Ben’s state, Barnaby just tilted his head with that same easy smile, “Why would you stop talking? I thought you called me here because there was something you wanted to talk about.” He pauses but Ben just stares at him, blue eyes wide. It’s not unusual to him as he knows Ben is nervous, especially after a Merula incident, so he gives the boy a few more moments and then clears his throat.

Ben snaps back to reality, “Ah! Sorry I… uh,” He had to tear his eyes away from Barnaby, “zoned out.”

Barnaby shrugged, “That happens to me all the time.” He puts a hand on Ben’s shoulder, “Are you okay? You looks more freaked out than usual.”

Running one hand through his hair, Ben lets out a long breath, “I’ve just never had to ask anyone this before, so I don’t know what I’m doing, and I find it hard to talk around you.” He regrets that last part the second it leaves his mouth, hands waving frantically as Barnaby winces and takes a step back, “Not because I’m afraid! The opposite really, I like you a lot but I’ve never liked anyone this much so I don’t know what I’m doing!”

The other boy stared at him in confusion, green eyes wide like a deer in headlights, “You’re… Going to need to slow down, I’m not following.”

He wishes that the paper in his hands wasn’t crumpled, but forces himself to keep talking, “What I’m trying to say is that I like you and… Would you go to the Celestial Ball… With me…?” His voice petered off as the brief surge of confidence leaves him. All he can do is wait and watch as the wheels turn in Barnaby’s head.

When it clicks Barnaby’s face lights up and before Ben can react he finds himself crushed in a tight hug. A strangled noise leaves him, mostly from the pressure on his ribs but also from the sudden contact.

Releasing him from the crushing embrace, Barnaby still keeps Ben close, “Yes! Definitely!” He’s smiling so hard that Ben feels like he might have a heart attack.

“Thats…” Ben clears his throat, embarrassed, “I’m glad.”

Smile widening, Barnaby brushed a few strands of Ben’s blond hair from his face, “You’re cute when you’re flustered.”

Ben buried his face in his hands with an incoherent string of noises. Barnaby laughs, loud and free, and pulls him forward until his forehead was against his shoulder. He comes to the realization then, unshielding his eyes to look up at Barnaby’s grin, that he doesn’t have to be so afraid around him. Barnaby has never minded his constant fear or inability to properly articulate himself. He just waited, content to give Ben the time he needed to figure out what he was going to say.

It was liberating.


End file.
